HdR Photography with Effects

(click image for larger view)

I was in Knoxville, TN last weekend soaking up lumen into my color filter array by way of bracketing on a tripod resulting in high dynamic range imagery which processed with computer code that combined the data from multiple captured photodiodes.

The word "com-put-er" above totally lost its futuristic linguistic implication in the past ten years. I can't say computer and feel awesome anymore. What's a new word that is cool now? OH OH!! iPhone. No, that's not even cool anymore. Hooooow abooout ANDRIOD! It's making a comeback in the cell phone/operating system word. Make's me think of DANGER, WIL ROBINSON!

OH CRAP. This is my photography blog. I probably should say something about photography.

Ok. So, this image I shot above was 3 total images shot using a tripod. I set my camera on burst mode and set bracketing to +/-2 stops. I then put on the camera's self timer.

Depress the shutter and ten seconds later the camera will automatically shoot three images, all with different shutter speeds. That's it. Well, for the field anyway.

Once in post I used the popular HdR software Photomatix (which I always mess up saying it as PhotoMATRIX..hey, I liked that movie!) From the HdR software I export as a 16-BIT TIFF and then open the TIFF in Photoshop. If you haven't heard of Photoshop...you may be a total idiot. Seriously, my first word as a child was "fothostot." I know, I was SO close even then!

ANYWAY, moving on...

In Photoshop I used two different soft-light layers of images of metal I found laying around. Then, I added an intense frame I had in a frame library. (not sure the name of it, sorry) You almost can't go wrong with insane borders; it really gets the attention off any mistakes made in the photography. ;D

Wedding Photography - Outdoor Strobe Flash

I'm home and tiiiiired! I shot a wedding most of the day with Dave assisting me. We got home and went through all of the shots and there were so many awesome ones! We were excited about the images and also about some new lighting setups that we created along the way. (Thanks for the help Dave!)

Equipment
I often get looked down upon by other wedding photographers due to the equipment I bring along. I apparently bring too much, but I can carry it all by myself at once, so I don't believe it's too much. And, when a shot (posted here) can be created with equipment that I can carry myself, I have a hard time seeing how it's not worth it.

I used one strobe with a grid to get the vignetting. I used portable power to power the strobe. I metered to capture the clouds how they were.

I often get asked by photographers "how do you have enough time to set this stuff up?!" Simple, first I plan ahead, weeks before the wedding, a time to focus on such shots. Second, I learned how to meter quickly. Third, I work better under pressure. Fourth, I keep my clients informed during the shoot precisely what I am doing and how long it will take. (That makes the pressure of time much less for me and them.)

This took about 8 minutes to hook up the light, meter, pose, and shoot. There were many other shots, this was only my favorite out of the bunch.

Post Production
I used raw tools to saturate the color and change the greenery to a more rust-like color. (clients request) I also pushed the vignetting a little further (on the bridge wood) than my strobe/grid had done. It did a fine job on her dress though.

Wedding photography can be difficult, but only at first.

(CLICKING THE IMAGE WILL GIVE A LARGER VIEW)

I have been writing lengthy replies about wedding photography over on Supershoots.net today. I figured I would share a few ideas about shooting weddings that may (or may not) help you get over common issues that arise. At the end of this post I would love to hear common issues you may be having at your weddings and maybe myself or someone else can chime in with some positive thoughts on how to overcome the issue. Here we go:

1. What do I charge for my wedding photography?
This really depends on what sort of weddings you want to be shooting. If you are just starting out (first 5-8 weddings) then you will want to keep your prices fairly low. This has little to do with what your images (prints) are worth or the quality of your images, it's only a simple fact that if you say you charge $500 then you will get to shoot low-grade weddings that will only pay such a price. You are in control of the weddings you are shooting based on the prices that you charge. If you charge $5,000 then I'm betting that the wedding will be in a really nice church. with nice decorations, and an expensive wedding dress. If you do not feel ready to shoot something so extravagant, don't charge that price yet.

2. I was shooting a wedding and several other people had cameras next to me shooting. It's in the contract that this isn't supposed to happen. What do I do?
Yell at everyone and tell them to put their stupid toy cameras away for you can do your job. (Don't forget to mean mug them too!) Of course this isn't what to do. It may feel okay to ask those people to put their cameras down. But, they don't know you and will feel like you are "telling them what to do." People don't enjoy feeling this way. So, what does one do?

Well, we do know that if the bride or groom says something that they will immediately put their toy cameras down. So, take the opportunity to put into the mind of the bride and groom what is happening for they will take care of this issue for you. Chances are they want them to put their cameras down as well because they paid you to shoot the images and they have no idea where to look and when. But, how do we tell them this without bringing up "it's in the contract" as if you are now a lawyer instead of a photographer or sounding like you are demanding them to take care of something that they think you should be taking care of?

Simple. Use proper wording to allow them to understand what is going on and to make it sound as if you are not being demanding even though you are. You don't have to sound or look demanding to get your way.

So, what can be said? A few things have worked for me. One is "when other peoples flashes go off, my flash also goes off which mean I will get a dark picture every time." The first time I used this I was only being honest, but they jumped quickly and everyone else's cameras were now in their pockets.

Another thing that may be said is "I shot this group shot 7 times and in each image different people are looking in different directions because of so many cameras in the room..." Then shut your mouth. Silence is incredibly effective in allowing the other party to respond. You shouldn't need to say anything more.

3. Children are running all around and distracting me from taking images. The run into my frame!
I don't know what to tell you, that totally sucks. I'm kidding of course. Kid's are like creatures from another planet. They see the world from only a few feet off the ground and contract agreements don't mean anything to them. But, what does matter to a kid? Toys. Imagination. Having fun, and being disruptive.

If someone else isn't controlling the kids, you may in a gentle manner. I never think about a parent being angry for me doing this because I treat the kids with the utmost respect. If they run into my frame, I use that opportunity to allow the kid (this works with DOGS as well!) to do something totally stupid while in my frame and snap a shot while everyone is looking at the kid and laughing. It usually turns out to be a great conversation starter in a person wedding album. "Remember when little Adam hid behind everyone then stuck his head between uncle James legs! Look, here is a picture of it!" Little Adam will never forget THAT image!

See, that is the photographers job at the wedding; it's to CAPTURE the happenings of that special day. This is why weddings are considered Event Photography. It's an event, and it's our job to capture it not only as-it-is, but even better that it actually is.

Back to the annoying kid in our frames. After you shoot the silly image, say something like "OH WOW now THAT was funny! What a fun kid! Okay, let's get back to this group shot..." Since everyone is in a good mood and you just alerted to everyone that you are cool with what is happening and are having a good time at the wedding, SOMEONE will take care of the kid for you. This all can take place in 30 seconds. Compared the story I just painted to being upset and telling someone to remove the child and making yourself look like you are not enjoying your job at their wedding, which I'm sure would take longer than 30 seconds and would kill moral. Plus, the kid probably won't be screaming and kicking for the next half hour because they were forced to do something.

So, if you don't know what to do, remember to not FORCE kids to do things. It simply doesn't work.

Okay, so those were 3 question with 3 long winded answers. What things do you run into at your weddings?

I shot the above image last Saturday in downtown Chicago.
Canon 40D - Canon 24-70 f/2.8 (shot at 26mm)
HDR + Post Processing
Base Exposure: 1/6th - f/7.1 - ISO200

Getting Paid For Your Photography

JimmyD recently posted over in the Supershoots forum a video of Harlan Ellison talking about getting paid as a writer as apposed to getting exposure or publicity.

You can watch this short (3:24) video of Ellison talking about a situation where this arose and his thoughts on it.

Watch it a second time and replace the word "writers" with "photographers."

I think of it this way, my mortgage company doesn't accept publicity or exposure for payment, and neither does McDonalds. So, why should I?

This image is of Roberta looking amazing as usual! Thanks Roberta!

Oops!! Missing Links!

I was reorganizing my images online the other day and created a few missing links on this blog. I went back and fixed all but one which I deleted and will have to re-upload once I'm back at the home base.

I hope no one got hurt and that everyone is OK!

:D

I've seen this picture before!

I was reading a photography post where there was an awesome image posted. It only took a few replies before someone pointed out "hey, isn't that idea getting old?"

Well, isn't the ideas of most photographers getting old? I mean, seriously, the image I posted on this post is pretty cool. (Well, I thought so or I wouldn't have posted it.) I'm definitely not breaking any barriers here. But, I wasn't trying to either. If photographers had to shoot something totally unique, there would be a lot less photographers in the world today. But, that is okay. Sometimes people put down another photographers work because it looks like some other photographers work they have seen before, but don't speak too soon, I'm sure your work looks just like someone else's. Maybe you only have not run into them yet. I'll assume I don't do anything special or different until it's widely accepted that it is. But, since I'm not going for that I'm guessing I'll never hear such a thing.

When I'm shooting I have a fairly clean slate in my mind. I know what the model looks like, and maybe saw some clothes she has, and know the relative location where we will be shooting, but beyond that I don't think too much about what I'm exactly going to be shooting. This works for me. It may not work for you.

I could image what a headache it would be for another photographer to be in my shoes. But, I couldn't really do that well in the shoes of a photographer who plans out too many specific details. Saying that I guess I'm sort of a go-with-the-flow sort of shooter. I'm a go-with-the-flow type of guy in general. So, I think that's probably a good thing that my personality and my shooting style match up. At least I'm not trying to be something I'm not. Wow, did I just blog a post of therapy for myself? Probably sounds like it, but what's more important is for you, the reader, to clear your mind and shoot with purpose and accuracy. If you want to claim the title of photographer, be the best photographer that you can be and nothing less!

The above is Dalida. She rocked this image a few weekends ago for me. Thanks Dalida!

It's like sooo 1985!

Tonight I went to see my cousin play high school football. Everywhere I looked kids were wearing 80's clothing. It totally freaking ROCKED! Girls wearing tight pink jeans with multi colored flourescent high tops and sweet haircuts! I was excited because this is the era I grew up in and I actually thought it was pretty sweet. ;D

I was in Atlanta last weekend and had to shoot the make up artist. She was a sheer bubble gum 80's rocker chic in this outfit...doesn't get much better that that!

I hope everyone is having a great week. Keep shooting!

New childrens book on digital retouching!

I have been extremely busy retouching and thought "isn't there a machine that could do this work for me?!" Then, I thought of Paul Bunyon. Then, I thought "maybe I could write and sell a childrens book! Here is the idea:

Animated adaptations about two legendary folk heroes. "The Legend of Joshua Bunyon" relates the adventures of the mighty retoucher, a man who, as legend has it, could stand in Illinois and cast a shadow all the way across Missouri to Kansas. "The Legend of John Henry" is the story of the greatest computer-programmer of all time. Joshua takes the challenge of retouching faster and cleaner than computer retouching software can, in an test of man against code.
[original here]


The lady posted today is Angel. She left me quite a positive comment on a photography website the other day and I wanted to share.

""Josh is a AMAZiNG PHOTOGRAPHER 2 Work with! One of my favorites!!!!
Just thought I would let everyone know that! And, once again thanks 4 the new images!!!
YOU FREAkiN ROCK!!!!****
Can't wait to work together again=)
Angelleigh""

...amazing AND freaking rock. Sweet!

Learning Photography Lighting

A person wrote me the other day asking for advice about learning lighting for photography. They said something to the effect of 'i'm looking into getting strobes and a softbox...' and I immediately thought 'Whoa! Slow down!'

When it comes to lighting it seems to makes sence to start with something simple and then work into more complex situations. So, what lighting is simple?

Well, lighting in general is fairly simple once you understand how it works. For this post I'm not going to go into any math or ratios, but I am going to go through a few steps in learning lighting.

First of all it's probably a good idea to start with natural light.  This is a great intro into seeing natural light the way god intended it. Go out and shoot natural light. Shoot in direct sunlight, shade, side lighting, back lighting, butterfly, etc...shoot until you get great dynamic images that get attention. Once you do, you have just mastered one light!

Now, pull out your reflectors and start bouncing the light around. Figure how to shoot great images with your reflector and natural light. Once you get the feel of controlling the given light, you will be ready to have a light source of your own!

Now, get one strobe and learn what heigth, angle and intensity you need to make good images indoors. Use the knowledge you learned in dealing with natural light and a reflector to your strobe. You will quickly learn how to use your one strobe.

Next, get a second strobe. This is the point where you will need to start measuring the light intensity with a light meter.

In my next post I will go over some basic ideas on using one strobe outdoors and two strobes indoors and outdoors. 

Until then, happy shooting! 
 

Photography with Fire!

If you like fire, hand drums, hippie'ish style dancing and the smell of marijuana in the air, then this is a place for you! This is the first time for me to hang out at a Pyrotechniq event. It was fairly entertaining. I mean, people are freaking EATING FIRE! How is that not fun to watch!?













This event was held August 5th of this year (2009) in Chicago. There are going to be 3 more held this year. Check out the link above for dates and times.
















People ate fire, spit fire, hula hooped with fire, had sword fights with fire, bo staffs, chains, whips, and just about any sort of weapon with fire on the end of it was spinning around.
















Many photographers were there with tripods, flashes and all sorts of other cool toys. I shot hand held with no flash because I was late testing my ability to shoot hand held at slow shutter speeds. Most were shot between 1/30th - 1/80th at ISO 1600.

Photography Inspiration

Today I was thinking "what inspires people to shoot certain things?" Sometimes photographers will copy something they have already seen. Or, capture it in a slightly different way. Some simply guess and hope for the best. Others draw up every detail and create what was in their mind.

Although I have a folder on my computer that is also on synced to my PMP of images of other photographers that I really like, I have not once went to shoot and looked at them. I have ideas in my mind, but they are always foggy at best. Usually a generalization of an idea. I like this and it works for me. I believe it's because I have a small foundation for what I want to shoot, but I don't tie myself down with too many details for during the shoot things can move more naturally.

Just about every shoot I have done in the past few years feels very winged. I try and make the best with whatever situation, equipment, clothing, and weather was available at that time.

I'm slowly getting better at looking around and seeing what would and wouldn't look great in an image. I'd imagine most things could look great in an image if it were captured in some interesting eye-catching way.

I think it would be fun to get a few photographers together and all shoot the same scene, like this old loading dock in the image above, and see how each person interprets it. Of course the other photographers couldn't watch what the others are doing because that would alter the natural creativity of each person during their time to shoot.

In the end everyone could compare and discuss their ideas during their shoot and what it looks like in the end. I believe this could quickly open doors for everyone into thinking about capturing/creating images in a different way.

Then, everyone go re-shoot the same scene together and see what comes of it. I don't have time for any of this, but it seemed like a great idea. If you do it, e-mail me results and I will blog it! :D

Why focusing and recomposing is a not-so-great habit in photography.

(Any image in this post that is hard to see...click on it. It will load a full resolution version that you can see much better.)

I see this done often and I still do it myself from time to time. When one tilts their camera upwards to focus on the eyes of the model then tilts the camera back down to compose the image. Seems harmless, and it may be harmless if you are shooting at f/8'ish to f/16 or more.

(remember shooting at apertures of around f/8 - f/16 and more results in a wide depth of field whereas shooting from f/5.6 - f/1.8 results in a shallow depth of field...click here for a visual example)

Now let's take a look at what happens if we are shooting between f/1.8 to f/5.6'ish.




















Imagine holding the camera in this diagram that I spent 20 minutes drew up real quick for reference. We point the camera up to the eyes of our subject, which are 6 feet away. Perfect, the eyes are in focus. Since we are shooting in open apertures, lets say for this example, f/2.8, we have the eyes in focus and about 2 or 3 inches on each side of the orange line going through our subject is in focus. Beyond those few inches things are out of focus. Now, let's keep that focus point and tilt our camera down for our three quarter shot.
























Now that we have tilted our camera, notice where the orange line of focus on our subject has moved to. It's not focused on the eyes anymore. Now our focus has moved several inches behind the eyes. Remember those few inches we had? Now the eyes are out of focus.



In the image of Tiffany above I did this very thing. Here is a close up of the focusing for you can see this error in action. CLICK on this image to load a bigger/clearer version!

The collective ideas of several are better than yours alone...sometimes.

I have talked with Tiffany for several months now and we finally got to meet up and shoot. Just like any first shoot things start off with typical cookie cutter type of shooting and then eases into an artistic blend of every one's ideas and expressions. This first shot I took about 15 shots and never felt like I totally got the pose right. I showed Tiffany the shot and she said "oh yes! it would look better if I moved this leg here." See, Tiffany saw what I was trying to do with this shot, picked up my slack saw my vision, and then added her valuable input to make it better than if I had done it solely on my own. Good work Tif!

In post I did some special steps for the feel of this image would be custom. I shot this using 4 stop bracketing and a tripod. Next I made two different HDR's and mixed the properties of those two HDR images. I then painted back in some parts from one of the original images. Last I did the typical retouching that most images receive. A lot of work, but not so bad with a new computer. I simply wanted to try something new.

It's not personal, but I rather it be.

Last night I was talking with a photographer friend of mine who encountered a new photo hobbyist. This person was talking about quitting their job as they purchased thousands of dollars in photographic equipment.

During this transaction this new hobbyist said they already got a corporate job in shooting some "whatever" for "whomever." My friend asked what did they charge for such a shoot? They replied with such a degrading low ball amount that my friend became annoyed and said "it's because of what you are doing which makes it hard for me and other professionals to live off their photography work!"

They replied "It's not like I'm doing this personally to you."
(As if that is okay!!!)
(It's certainly not.)

I instantly thought, "wow, I RATHER this person be my local photography arch nemesis for I can at least 1 up them and win!" But, with things not being personal, and not being able to compete in the market due to low ball offers it hurts those of us trying to live off our passion for photography.

I'm not complaining that work is being stole from me. I don't want those clients anyhow. But, I am annoyed that I hear what people pay for wedding photography or their corporate work and then telling me how much it sucked and they didn't like the photographer.
(I hear it much too often!)

The above is the band Haste the Day back in 2004(ish) in Appelton, Wisconsin. Shot with a Canon 10D and my trusty Vivitar 285HV bounced off the white ceiling. I was standing in the pit.

Everyone is going to be a photographer!

I don't know how it is where you are at, but since the economy hasn't been looking good (I mean in the past year) I have heard more people say they want to be a photographer.

I'm not sure what pulls people into photography. Is it because they see pictures and have a desire to make them their selves? Maybe a self expression sort of thing? If they want to make money doing it they will not express too much into their work. And, if they fully express themselves chances are they will not make much money doing it. And, then probably stop. Or...OR OR OR ooooooOORR, they will become totally insane (like the rest of us shooters) and continue shooting in the industry without much pay BUT with a big smile on their heart and face!

Something I noticed about people who love to take pictures, they are slightly crazy. Including myself. Hell, I'm probably totally insane at this point and don't even know it! ;D

But, I love photography. Come to think of it. Photography is similar to a religious cult due to it's ability to create a social group of slightly off kilter people that drive great distances to hang out and take more pictures. We shall name our god Canon! This is allllll a bad idea. But it's true. Photography changes how we see the world and it changes our lifestyle. If it doesn't for you then you are probably already totally insane with photography and forgot what non-photography life is like!!! Sooooo, come, lets hang out! :D

The above is the lovely Miss Ashley. She was doing make up for a shoot and decided to jump on stage for a few minutes. I think she did really rowr.

Fire Spinning

I was shooting an event downtown on the Peoria Riverfront a few weeks back and became fairly excited when the fire spinners came out. They came out when the sky was dark and the fire lit up the face of the person spinning. This little guy came out and was like a miniature crazy ninja on steroids with spinning chains of fire. It was totally awesome!!!

In a few months I will hopefully still have the honor of shooting the promo images for this group who spins fire. I'm definitely looking forward to shooting it! And, I already have a plan for it will not be the usual shutter-drag-fire-drawing-in-the-sky type of thing. Look for this later this year, September'ish.

On the beach, 50's style!

I had the honor of working with Zairia from the St. Louis area recently on a pin up shoot. It was a really great time shooting. The models had the looks and great attitudes! All of them did a great job! The image posted here is of Sandra. It took her and I about 5 seconds before realizing that we worked together perfectly as photographer and model. Everything came easy. That doesn't happen all the time or even often.

I used one strobe with a 48 inch umbrella to camera left, up near the height of the models forehead, and slightly pointed down. I used warming filters/gels on the strobe to enable me to get a warm skin tone and pull the kelvin down on the camera to achieve the blue water. I spent only a few minutes in post. Wallah!

Live Music

One of my most loved subjects to shoot is live music. I definitely don't shoot it enough. In fact, I shoot any and everything else more than live music. Why you ask? Because, I'm an idiot. Actually, I only haven't found a way to make it as profitable as I would want it to be, so I stick with other genera of photography that allows me to put gas in my car and eat. I have been getting little sleep, shooting a bunch, and retouching even more. Stick around, I have many images to post! :D

Saint Louis Graffiti Wall

I remember a long time ago I got to go up into the Saint Louis arch. That was a neat experience. What I didn't know then is that there is a huge wall, more than a mile, right below the arch that separates the water and land/railroad.


Graffiti artists from all around makes stops at the wall and 'battle' other artists work. Not sure how this all exactly works, but sounds like a fun thing to be aware of. I'm curious to what artists do this sort of thing and what other cities have such places to graffiti.

This image was shot with two strobes. The backlight had several 1/4 Cinegel (#3409) to give the wall a warmer feel. I wanted to use red or blue lights for the background, but I didn't have anything but the Cinegel's with me. The main light was a 42 inch silver umbrella. A flashlight was used for focusing since it was totally dark while shooting.

The model is Elise. She did a fantastic job of taking direction while also having fun! Props to Miss Ashley for doing the make up and hair with a half dead flashlight!

Peoria, Illinois Riverfront

(click to view larger)

Things have been crazy busy, so I half way apologize for not updating sooner. ;D

Today was a crunch day for getting some pano's of the Peoria skyline. It's primary use will be for a mural inside a large room. I set up a laptop and projector today to shine the images on the wall for the artist can use it as a painting/drawing template.

This brings up something I never blogged about before. Sometimes one artists work can help out another artists work. Work with artists around you to accomplish things bigger than what you could only do by yourself.

I will take images of the final art work and post it when it is finished.

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Image created with 7 raw shots stitched together in Adobe Photoshop CS4.
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